Spianata&co adds real Roman coffee to menu
It took some time to craft the perfect Spianata sandwich - Rome’s most popular lunchtime choice – to the taste of hungry and choosy Londoners. Now Spianata, an essential part of Roman life, is a hit in the City and in Mayfair with its six shops, and growing fast. Owner Stefano Nicolai could not compromise on taste, ingredients and quality, and has now turned its attention to coffee, applying exactly the same uncompromising principles.
Not satisfied with the choice of coffees out there, he worked with a roaster to create Spianata 80/20, a bespoke blend which delivers the perfect Roman taste. Hand roasted, the blend is 80 percent high quality Arabica, with its smooth, fine aroma and taste, and 20 percent Robusta, to give the ‘crema’ on top of the coffee and deliver a ‘kick’ on the palate. Available from end of June, this Roman-style coffee is served in a glass cup when drank on site, with a small glass of water on the side. It sells at £ 1.45 for a single espresso and at £1.75 for a double – even the prices are evocative of Rome!
The blend is also used for cappuccino, which comes as the shorter Roman cappuccino at £2.10 and as a standard 12 oz at £2.20. ‘In Rome, we don’t have the ‘baby bottle’ culture says Stefano Nicolai referring to the large lattes and large cappuccinos regularly consumed in London. ‘Whilst we offer a whole range of coffees, we aim for quality, not quantity and because our 80/20 blend is so satisfying, you really don’t want to drink half a pint of coffee’ he continues, whilst biting into a stracchino, roast pepper and sunblushed tomato Spianata sandwich.
In the trials, the Spianata 80/20 blend was so popular that it convinced Stefano to pack it for retail sales in a distinctive and elegant 250g silver and blue bag, which can be purchased from the shops at £5.75. Italians working in the Square Mile, and with homesick tastebuds, are already flocking in, but so are many others who have developed a taste for this new Roman coffee.
Spianata&co also offers a whole range of cakes made to authentic recipes, such as Lemon or Chocolate Ciambellotto at £1.80 and £2.20, which perfectly accompany the new Roman-style coffee.
The only platinum winner of the 2012 ‘Best Independent Sandwich Bar of the Year’ from the British Sandwich Industry, Gold winner in the Great Taste Awards 2011 for its own-baked bread, quoted by Harden’s 2012 and 2013 as ‘panini heaven, using awesome own-baked bread’, Spianata&co bakes its own bread every day in the City of London, from scratch, solely for the spianata sandwiches. These are displayed at room temperature only, as you would find in Italy, never in a refrigerated unit.
Find Spianata&co at 3 Hay Hill, Berkeley Square, London W1J 6AS; Holborn Viaduct EC1; Blomfield Street EC2; Watling Street near St Paul’s EC4; Brushfield Street at Spitalfields Market E1 and at More London Place at London Bridge, SE1 spianata.com
